Moral psychology Essay

In the first lecture I have tried to explain you the concept of Business Ethics, its importance in the organization, and arguments against its implementation. Along with that we did a small activity so as to make everything clear. In this lecture I shall talk about morality and moral standards. Points to be covered in this lecture: Meaning and characteristics of morality Meaning and origin of moral standards MORALITY What do you actually mean by morality? Morality can be explained in all these ways: Morality can be defined as the standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong, or good and evil. Moral quality or character; rightness or wrongness, as of an action; the character of being in accord with the principles or standards of right conduct. Not imposed from outside, but innate and can even be unconscious. We have a fundamental urge to connect. Ultimately, it’s our moral qualities that force us to live in harmony with the unconscious; doing so is the highest form of morality. Morality is individual; the morality of a group decreases as its size increases. Morality is an informal public system applying to all rational persons, governing behavior that affects others, and has the lessening of evil or harm as its goal. Morality is a complex of concepts and philosophical beliefs by which an individual determines whether his or her actions are right or wrong. Often, these concepts and beliefs are generalized and codified in a culture or group, and thus serve to regulate the behavior of its members. Conformity to such codification is called morality, and the group may depend on widespread conformity to such codes for its continued existence. A â€Å"moral† may refer to a particular principle, usually as informal and general summary of a moral principle, as applied in a given human situation. Characteristics Of Morality To say that morality is a public system incorporates the essential feature that everyone who is subject to moral judgment knows what kinds of actions it prohibits, requires, discourages, encourages, and allows. It also guarantees that it is never irrational to act morally. It would take considerably more space than is appropriate here to show that defining morality as a public system that applies to all rational persons also results in morality being a universal guide to behavior that all rational persons would put forward for governing the behavior of all moral agents. I should make clear that the claim that all rational persons would put forward this system only follows if limitations are put on the beliefs that rational persons can use and if they are attempting to reach agreement with similarly limited rational persons. To say that morality is an informal system means that it has no authoritative judges and decision procedures that provide unique answers to all moral questions. When it is important that disagreements be settled, societies use political and legal systems to supplement morality. These formal systems have the means to provide unique answers, but they do not provide a moral answer to the question. Example: An important example of such a moral question is whether, and if so under what conditions, to allow abortion. There is continuing disagreement about this moral question, even though the legal and political system in the United States has provided fairly clear guidelines about the conditions under which abortion is allowed. Despite this important and controversial issue, morality, like all informal public systems, presupposes overwhelming agreement on most moral questions. No one thinks it is morally justified to cheat, deceive, injure, or kill simply in order to gain sufficient money to take a fantastic vacation. In the vast majority of moral situations, given agreement on the facts, no one disagrees, but for this very reason, these situations are never discussed. Thus, the overwhelming agreement on most moral matters is often overlooked. The claim that morality governs behavior that affects others is somewhat controversial. Some have claimed that morality governs behavior that affects only the agent himself/herself. Examples of behavior that supposedly affects only oneself, often include taking recreational drugs, masturbation, and developing one’s talents. The final characteristic of morality — that it has the lessening of evil or harm as its goal — is also somewhat controversial. The Utilitarians talk about producing the greatest good as the goal of morality. However they include the lessening of harm as essential to producing the greatest good and almost all of their examples involve the avoiding or preventing of harm. The paradigm cases of moral precepts involve rules which prohibit causing harm directly or indirectly, such as rules prohibiting killing, causing pain, deceiving, and breaking promises. Even those precepts that require or encourage positive action, such as helping the needy, are almost always related to preventing or relieving harms. Moral Standards Moral standards include the norms we have about the kinds of actions we believe are morally right and wrong as well as the values we place on the kinds of objects we believe are morally good and morally bad. Moral norms can usually be expressed as general rules, ie. â€Å"Always tell the truth. † Moral values can usually be expressed as statements describing objects or features of objects, ie. â€Å" Honesty is good. † Origin Of Moral Standards During childhood moral standards are absorbed from family, friends and various societal institutions. Later in life experiences, learning and intellectual development help a person in forming these standards. Moral Standards Vs. Non-Moral Standards Moral standards deal with matters, which can seriously injure or seriously benefit human beings while it is not the case with non-moral standards. Examples of non-moral standards include the standards of etiquette by which we judge manners as good or bad, and the standards we call â€Å"law† by which we judge legal right and wrong. Moral standards are not formed or changed by the decision of particular authoritative bodies and the validity of these standards lies on the adequacy of the reasons that are taken to support and justify them. If a person has the moral obligation to do something, then the person is supposed to do that even if this conflicts with other non-moral values or self-interest. Moral standards does not evaluate standards on the basis of the interests of a particular individual or group, but one that goes beyond personal interests to a universal stand point in which everyone’s interests are impartially counted as equal. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and a special vocabulary. If a person tells a lie so as to fulfill a purpose and then afterwards he starts feeling guilty or ashamed of his behavior. Points to ponder: Till now we have discussed what is ethics, business ethics, morality and moral standards, but students you should always remember that what is right and moral for you may be wrong and immoral for me or to any other person sitting in the class. In a way we can say that Ethics is a very subjective matter. Ok, tell me one thing that how are you now going to react when you will see a person lying in a pool of blood on the road. Are you going to help him or will avoid him because of the fear of Delhi police? Hope now you will start using your conscience and will do what you feel is right and there will be no hiccups before taking any action. Overview: Morality can be defined as the standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong, or good and evil. Moral standards include the norms we have about the kinds of actions we believe are morally right and wrong as well as the values we place on the kinds of objects we believe are morally good and morally bad. Activity Define morality. Discuss some characteristics of morality. http://www. slideshare. net/birubiru/morality-and-moral-standards Social norms are group-held beliefs about how members should behave in a given context Sociologists describe norms as informal understandings that govern society’s behaviors, while psychologists have adopted a more general definition, recognizing smaller group units, like a team or an office, may also endorse norms separate or in addition to cultural or societal expectations.

Fossil Story Essay

Northeastern Illinois has a great deal of geological history hidden beneath the surface. If you just take a trip to the Larson Quarry or even Pit 11 you can find some interesting rock formations as well as fossils in them. But, if you cannot get to these areas, this paper can tell you what you can find in 5 different locations in Northeastern Illinois. We will be looking at Larson Quarry, Thornton Quarry, Mazon River, Pit 11, and the Glacial Drift which is at Palos Hills and throughout the surface of the Chicago area). The first stop is the Larson Quarry. This is located near DeKalb, Illinois. The specific coordinates are 42? N, 88? 35’ W at 920 feet. This site contains specimens from 450 million years ago which include trilobites like Flexicalymene, brachiopods like platystropia, rafnesquina, leptaena, the horn coral streptelasma, an unnamed bivalve, bryozoans, various crinoid stem parts, the cephalopod endoceras, and the gastropods cyclonema and malcurites. The rock types and formations that were found around these fossils were Cincinnatian Maquoketa Shale and Galena Dolomite. â€Å"The Maquoketa shale, which contains seams of argillaceous dolomite†¦and ranges from highly to slightly weathered, with the highly weathered portions having the consistency of a stiff clay and are extremely fissile† (Preber). These fossils were preserved by replacement as well as mold and cast. The Mazon River, which is near Morris, Illinois is located at 41? 20’N, 88? 30’W at 525 feet. This site had fossils from 290 million years ago and included seed ferns like alethopteris and neuropteris, true fern Pecopteris, horsetail rush parts calamites (trunk), and annularia (leaf whorl), lycopod tree (club moss) parts and bark lepidodendron, and leaf lepidophylites. The rock types were shale and sandstone as well as coal and the formation was Francis Creek. The Illinois State Museum writes in an article about how Francis Creek formation is formed: â€Å"Much of the area that we now call Illinois was a mixture of swampy lowlands and shallow marine bays. From the northeast flowed at least one major river system. The river(s) built large deltas through the low swamps and into the shallow bays. The mud that the river(s) carried was deposited in these deltas and bays. This mud turned into a rock called the Francis Creek Shale†. The preservation type was impressions in concretions. Next is Pit 11 which is the Mazonia/Briadwaood State Fish and Wildlife area at 41? 15’N, 88? 15’W at 590 feet. These specimens were found from 290 million years ago. The fossils include the same basic plants as the Mazon River. They also include jellyfish like the essexella, the shrimp belotelson, clams like edmontia and aviculopectin, an unnamed marine annelid worm, a possible fish fossil coprolite, the infamous Tully Monster: tullymonstrum, and the echinoderm sea cucumber holothurian. The rock types that held these fossils were shale and sandstone, as well as coal. These were in a Francis Creek formation. These fossils were preserved by impressions in concretions. It becomes quite apparent that there are certain biases in how and what fossils are preserved. Some species, notably Pecopteris unita, are found with fertile structures nearly half of the time while others like the more common true fern, Pecopteris acadica, are rarely seen with fertile structures being preserved at all† (Mazon Creek†¦). This tells us how these fossils were formed. Thornton Quarry, at coordinates 41? 35’ N, 87? 35’ W at 590 to 250 feet, is located on the south side of Chicago. This Quarry was formed 420 million years ago and includes fossils such as the trilobite calymene, brachiopod pentamerus, corals like favosite and halysites, an unnamed crinoid stem and the cephalopod moorecoceras. The rock types that were here were limestone-dolomite in Niagaran Racine Dolomite with fossils in mold and cast. â€Å"The most famous reef unearthed in the Chicago area is the coral reef†¦Debris from the growing reef began to be deposited and cemented. The reefs contained sea lilies, animals resembling horseshoe crabs, and ancient ancestors of squids and octopuses up to ten feet long. The ashy, gray-white limestone mined from the Thornton Reef contains the fossils of these animals† (Herweck). The reason that there are multiple types of coral is because this area was at the bottom of the Silurian Sea and molded well into the limestone. Lastly, we visit Palos Hills which includes the Glacial Drift. This area was from ~15,000 years ago and showed deposits of unconsolidated pebbles, sand, silt ad clay which contain mixed rocks of 400 million to 1 billion years old at 41? 41’N, 87? 50’ W at 772 feet. The fossils found here are mammoth or mastodon remains that are preserved as unaltered hard parts. There are also mixed marine fossils including crinoid stems, brachiopods, corals like hexagonaria (Petosky Stone) and trilobite parts, where were preserved as mold and cast r replacement. The glacial till include striated rocks composed of a mixture of many types including sedimentary (limestone/dolomite), igneous (granite, basalt) and metamorphic (gneiss). The formation was Valparaiso Moraine. â€Å"At this time, glacial ice covered the entire Chicago region†¦. the active ice sheet retreated into the Lake Michigan basin, although stagnant, melting ice remained behind. The ice then rapidly re-advanced to the†¦Valparaiso moraine in the western Chicago region† (Grimm). The glaciers that were in Chicago made a big impact on picking up rocks and sand and dirt from other regions and bringing it into the area, which is a reason why you may find interesting things in the area and that rocks age from 400 million to 1 billion years ago. The areas that we can find an assortment of fossils and rock formations are abundant in Illinois and have a wide variety of ages. From this summary, you can see what type of rock are around Northeastern Illinois and what type of animals, plants, and rocks were around from different periods and what type of environment they must have lived in.

Impact of the Internet and Media for Modern Youth

INTERNET ON MODERN YOUTH The content of the current media culture is often blind to a young person’s cultural,economic and educational background. The concept of a media culture has evolvedowing to the increased volume, variety and importance of mediated signs and messagesand the interplay of interlaced meanings. In the world of young people, themedia are saturated by popular culture and penetrate politics, the economy, leisuretime and education. At present, the global media culture is a pedagogic force that hasthe potential to exceed the achievements of institutionalized forms of education.AsHenry Giroux puts it:â€Å"With the rise of new media technologies and the global reach of thehighly concentrated culture industries, the scope and impact of theeducational force of culture in shaping and refiguring all aspects of  daily life appear unprecedented. Yet the current debates have generallyignored the powerful pedagogical influence of popular culture,along with the implicat ions it has for shaping curricula, questioningnotions of high-status knowledge, and redefining the relationship  between the culture of schooling and the cultures of everyday life. 6The concept of media culture encompasses not simply symbolic combinationsof immaterial signs or capricious currents of old and new meanings, but an entire wayof life7 in which images, signs, texts and other audio-visual representations are connectedwith the real fabric of material realities, symbols and artificialities. 8Media culture is pervasive; its messages are an important part of the everydaylives of young people, and their daily activities are structured around media use.Thestories and images in the media become important tools for identity construction. A  pop star  provides a model  for clothing and  other style choices, and language used  bya cartoon character becomes a key factor in the street credibility of young people. Under the present circumstances, there are few places left i n the world where onemight escape the messages and meanings embedded in the televised media culture.In a mediated culture, it can be difficult for young people to discern whose representationsare closest to the truth, which representations to believe, and whichimages matter. This is partly because the emergence of digitalized communication and the commoditization of culture have significantly altered the conditions under whichlife and culture are experienced. Many are still attached to the romantic image of  organic communities in which people converse with one another face-to-face and livein a close-knit local environment.Digital communication is gradually undermining thistraditional approach:â€Å"Most of the ways in which we make meanings, most of our communicationsto other people, are not directly human and expressive, butinteractions in one way or another worked through commodities andcommodity relations: TV, radio, film, magazines, music, commercialdance, style, fashion, co mmercial leisure venues. These are major  realignments. † 9In the world of young people, the media culture may be characterized primarilyin terms of three distinct considerations. First, it is produced and reproduced bydiverse ICT sources.It is therefore imperative to replace the teaching of knowledgeand skills central to agrarian and industrial societies with education in digital literacy. A similar point is made by Douglas Kellner, who contends that in a media culture it isimportant to learn multiple ways of interacting with social reality. 10 Children and young  people must be provided with opportunities to acquire skills in multiple literacies toenable them to develop their identities, social relationships and communities, whether  material, virtual, or a combination of the two.Second, the media culture of youth extends beyond signs and symbols, manifestingitself in young people’s physical appearance and movements. The media cultureinfluence is visible in how youth present themselves to the world through meansmade available by prevailing fashions; the body is a sign that can be used effectivelyto produce a cultural identity. Furthermore, various kinds of media-transmitted skillsand knowledge are stored and translated into movements of the body. This is evidentin a number of youth subcultures involving certain popular sports, games andmusic/dances such as street basketball, skateboarding and hip hop.The body is highly susceptible to different contextual forms of control. Whilethey are in school, pupils’ movements are regulated by certain control mechanismsand cognitive knowledge. In the streets, youth clubs and private spaces, however, their bodies function according  to a different logic. Informal knowledge absorbed throughthe media culture requires some conscious memorizing but also involves physicallearning, quite often commercialized. 11Third, in the experience of young people, media culture represents a sourceof pleasure and relative autonomy compared with home or school.As P. Willis states:â€Å"Informal cultural practices are undertaken because of the pleasuresand satisfactions they bring, including a fuller and more roundedsense of the self, of ‘really being yourself’ within your own knowablecultural world. This entails finding better fits than the institutionally or  ideologically offered ones, between the collective and cultural senses  Ã¢â‚¬â€the way it walks, talks, moves, dances, expresses, displays—  and its actual conditions of existence; finding a way of ‘beingin the world’ with style at school, at work, in the street. 12Experts on young people have long appreciated the complexity of the conceptof youth, especially when examined from a global perspective. The best summation is  perhaps that the concept of youth today is historically and contextually conditioned;in other words, it is relative as well as socially and culturally constructed. 13 In the presentmedia culture, the age at which childhood is perceived to end is declining, and the  period of  youth seems to be  extending upward.It is useful, however, to recall that the majority of young people in the worlddo not live according to the Western conceptions of youth. For them, childhood andadolescence in the Western sense exist only indirectly through media presentations. The same media culture influences seem to be in effect outside the Western world,  but their consequences are  likely to be somewhat different owing mainly to variationsin definitions of childhood and youth and to the different authority relationships  prevailing in individual cultures.Children and young people are often seen as innocent victims of the pervasive and  powerful media. In the extreme view, the breakdown of the nuclear family, teenage  pregnancy, venereal disease, paedophilia, child  trafficking and child prostitutionspreading through the Internet, drug use, juvenile crime, t he degeneration of manners,suicide and religious cults are all seen as problems exacerbated or even inflicted upon

Business Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Law - Research Paper Example The best answer for this question is found in the Massachusetts Constitution, which states that all people must have equal dignity, and rights, which means that it does not allow development of second-class citizens. However, the Commonwealth and the Department of Public Health denies civil marriage of same-sex couples. Therefore, the ultimate aim of this context is to outline the case that was held at Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts concerning same-sex marriage (Kiritsy 12). The paper also argues and supports the majority opinion, which represents judicial activism. Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk, November 18, 2003 On November 18 2003, there was a case filed by same-sex couples who alleged that they were deprived their rights to acquire a marriage license by the department and Commissioner of Public Health. The couple claimed that the department policy and observation refused to give them the marriage license, which was violation of several stipulations of State Constitution. The case was very complicated and to make judgment was a big dilemma (Vermont Public Radio 43). The superior court department had a cross-motion for judgment and eventually Thomas E. Connolly, J., summarized the case for Department but the plaintiffs appealed. The Supreme Court granted the requests of the parties for direct appellate evaluation and the ultimate opinion by Marshall, C.J, was that: The decree of marriage license were not vulnerable of interpretation therefore, same sex couples qualified to obtain marriage license As a matter of initial reaction, snagging of benefits, protections and compulsion of opposite sexes needed rational foundation and infringed state constitutional equal protection rights. The judgment by the Supreme Court was controversial in a way that some prominent people concurred with it while others differed. Greaney, J., was one of the few people who concurred with it while majority differed. For instance, Spina, J. disagreed with th e judgment and was joined by Cordy, JJ. Sosman also opposed it and was joined by Cordy and Spina while Cordy disputed against the issue of marriage in the case (Foderaro 161). Therefore, since the people who dissented with the judgment represented the judicial activism, it is clear that the activism were the majority in the case. In other words, majority of the people were against the issue of same-sex marriage licensing among them being the Commonwealth and Department of Public Health. In order to understand why majority of opinion represented judicial activism, it is important to understand the aspect of marriage. The Marriage Issue The decree of marriage licensing is both a public records and gatekeeping decree, which lays down minimum requirements for acquiring a marriage license and guides town and city clerks, the department of public health and the registrar to remain and maintain some crucial records of civil marriages. M.G.L.A. c. 207,  §Ã‚ § 19, 20. If the Department of Public Health and Commonwealth were against same-sex marriage and they are the same people who are issued with the qualifications of marriage license, then it means that the judgment was indeed wrong (Katie 111). The judgment was based on the Massachusetts constitution, which supports same-sex marriage, but it

Turkish Youth in Germany and Their Hip Hop as a Media Essay

Turkish Youth in Germany and Their Hip Hop as a Media - Essay Example It is the further hope of this author that by engaging with the information within this essay, the reader will calm to a more full and complete understanding of the way in which Turkish hip hop music was born and why it has developed in the unique way in which it has. As with many forms of art and expression, the genre of hip hop itself was born during the early 1970s. Beyond merely giving birth to this defining genre of uniquely American music, this particular decade, as well as the one which preceded it, was fertile ground for the development and expression of new art forms, music, means of understanding, philosophy, and a range of other expression and thought related activities (Brunson, 2011). Due to the way in which society was beginning to cast off the balance that it previously defined it and actively seeking to create new realities and means of expression to fit the needs and trends of the current generation, hip-hop was yet another in a long line of new wave expressionism that ultimately caught on and has prevailed for over 40 years now. Recognizing the transformative power that this genre of music could have for those individuals that considered themselves as a minority within a particular culture could have, it was not long before Turkish immigrants began to engage with the music genre and seek to mould it to the unique hardships and cultural issues they faced within Germany. Just as with rock ‘n roll before it and jazz before rock ‘n roll, Turkish hip-hop was syncretic in its form; allowing it to mix with African beats, current affairs/lyrics, and traditional Turkish melody (Bennett, 2009). In such a way, it cannot and should not be understood by the reader that Turkish hip hop is somehow unique and was ultimately created from any type of a blank slate. Rather, it was merely the evolution of different textural and musical elements that

Popular culture 6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Popular culture 6 - Assignment Example In comparison to other generations, it is more heterogeneous, embraces social diversity in terms of race, class religion ethnicity and sexual orientation. The evolution and film and video during this generation took a different dimension. It was the time when music video spread to all cultures. Generation x is made for the TV film which was first aired on Fox in 1996. It is farther based on the marvel comic which was produced by the new world entertainment. The x men are a television movie about the generation of x comic. It was one but longer considered. It was bunch of teenagers who were blessed or cursed with superhuman power. They would attend school where the teacher’s morality is questionable. In addition to video, this generation also started music video in which one could sing be displayed. This generation shares some things in common with film and video the area chosen. The element of dictatorship in the school in the video which characterized this generation was manifested in the video. The change was their main agenda from the parent view to leaders to a normal one. The play in the video is to advocate for human righ ts and dignity. The video music describe a sexual orientation generations with multiple sexual partner contributing the spread of HIV/AIDS. The disease affects people across all culture implying that there is intermarriage across the cultural boundaries. The actors in the cosmic play portray a picture in which there is lack justice for the poor. Due to high moral decay, corruption is considered as a vice that affect the society in many aspect. The need for change in all the sectors of economy is eminent right from the leaning, social and political institutions. To condemn the evil practice in this generation video and film are the best method in which to attack those that practice the evil practices indirectly in the

Retail store selling hearing aide opening for the first time Essay

Retail store selling hearing aide opening for the first time - Essay Example In order to ensure that customers have an ample interaction with the website, I will ensure that it has easily navigated layouts. The strategy is proposed because websites are easily accessible to people with aiding devices and places no cost on the audience. The medium also allows for easy feedback from the audience and this allows for product renovation and diversification in order to meet customers’ needs. The strategy targets the universal market and extends beyond New York City. Some of the major market segments that the strategy targets are schools for students with impaired hearing that might refer the students to the business. People with hearing impairment, together with their friends and relatives, especially in the digital generation, are another targeted audience because of their ability to respond to the communication and establish our market. The website will contain all the necessary information that customers may need ranging from the type of hearing aids available, types to be added in future, to forms of sale applicable. The website will provide information on how to use products offered by the business as well as feedbacks from customers who have used these products (Andreas, 2011). Another strategy that I will use to promote my business is printing business cards and distributing them to potential customers. This involves presenting information on cards that are then distributed to a target audience. The cards will be simple and well designed to ensure that they appeal to customers. Additionally, information contained in them will be short and precise .In order to ensure that the cards reach many customers, stocking them in several strategic places will be important. Among the strategic places in which I will place them are entrance to the business office, entrance to schools that train people with hearing disability, and strategic social places such as in restaurants and

How is this artefact the product of a particular historical and Essay - 1

How is this artefact the product of a particular historical and cultural environment - Essay Example In addition to that, in order to focus the analysis, the research will examine a pair of jeans that is in possession of the author. To begin with, it may be suitable to perform a preliminary analysis. Thus, one should point out that one of the main characteristic features of jeans is the peculiar kind of fabric that it is made of. The actual cloth that is used in production is called denim and is different from regular fabric in structure as feature an unusual combination of warp and weft (Chauncey 5). In addition to that there are metal rivets that are thought to reinforce the pockets so that they could carry more. Finally, there a special kind of thread that is used for the seams. The jeans that were the direct object of investigation are made by Gap. Keeping in mind that this company largely uses factories that are located on the island of Saipan, it would not be an exaggeration to point out that the pair of jeans in question was produced on that island (Bendix 5). It may be rather difficult to identity the time when this artefact was manufactured as there is no date indicated on the cloth. However, there may be a way to define the approximate time. Considering the fashion of the jeans, one might conclude that the pair in question was made in 2012. Speaking of the processes that were used in its production, one might speculate that they were made by hands of the hired workers. In order to gain a better understanding of the artefact one may also consider the reason why it was made. Leading aside different speculations about the possible cultural meaning and the shifting paradigm of clothes, one may point out that jeans have become the most popular casual clothes in the world (Cunningham 31). This means that people who come from different cultural backgrounds may be willing to buy a pair of jeans in order to wear it on a daily basis. That is why the

Managing customer and suppliers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing customer and suppliers - Assignment Example Place____________________________________________________________7 8. Item ____________________________________________________________7 9. Conclusion _______________________________________________________9 10. References ______________________________________________________10 Impact of the theory of six rights on the construction of the Aquatics Centre for Balfour Beatty Introduction The theory of the six rights clearly states the importance of supplying customer satisfaction by following six basic standards including timely delivery, quality and quantity assurance and price, place and item standardization. All suppliers, manufacturers and service providers try to follow these basic guidelines for success. Background The planning for the 2012 London Olympics have led to great amends and development in the London area and the transformation of the heart of East London by the development of the Olympics village. The total budget of 5254 million pounds was initially allocated for the Olympic Development Association (Sean Dodd, 2010)and Balfour Beatty, the large British infrastructure provider, won the contract for building the 17500 seater Aquatics centre. The company is an imminent infrastructure provider whose key aim is to continue reliable and responsible growth in shareholder value. (Beatty, 2008). Some of the most high profile projects of the company included Arsenal Emirates Stadium and the Terminal 5 of the Heathrow airport. For the aquatics centre, the key requirements of the Olympics had to be fulfilled within a certain time limit and a budget and the strict observation of both of them was essential. The project was to include different training and warming pools, adjustable spectator areas, changing areas and a cafe. Other requirements included the building to be sustainable with as little impact on the environment as well. This is besides the fact that the development and the functioning are expected to be extremely safe and family friendly. Thus di fferent user rights for satisfaction of the Olympians and spectators in particular and the public in general have to be fulfilled. Balfour Beatty has to ensure that these basic rights are not compromised on any occasion during construction and the following functioning. Following of these six rights is not only a stringent requirement of the contract providers but is also essential for the efficiency and increased productivity of Balfour Beatty. Time The time frame of the project is extremely crucial as it is no ordinary airport or building but an event centre being developed for a certain event. Thus it has to be ensured that the project is fully completed well before 2012 and the proposed deadline is 2011. (Balfour Beatty wins 2012 Aquatic centre, 2008). The time limit posed also tests Balfour Beatty's commitment to its projects as it measures its efficiency. The deadline of projection completion in 2011 also prevents any extra costs as late deliveries and late processing always s piral the cost of construction. Timely supply chain management, which is Balfour Beatty's trademark also reduces the cost by increasing the lead time while ordering and the just in time inventory assures that storage costs are further decreased. Thus the project time line if followed suitably will allow the project to be completed well within the proposed budget generating good revenues for the company. The most recent development showed that the Aquatics centre will be completed in 7 months which is almost a year ahead of the schedule.

MT140 Unit 6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MT140 Unit 6 - Assignment Example These are focuses to A standard is the level of expected execution for a given objective. So Lei needs to redesign and afterward inform all employees of the new standards that are normal and the disciplinary activities that will take after in the event that they dont go along. Step 2: Measuring Performance- After attainment of these new standards, Lei will need to measure the current approaches and guidelines that are generally utilized by every employee. Measuring exhibitions can be through individual perception, composed reports, and oral reports. Lei will need to assemble this data with the goal that she may contrast with the new measures and to discover any disparities; much like the one she has found with unmerited hours that are generally reported as hours lived up to expectations. Step 3: Comparing the standards against performance – this is the time to analyze the current techniques employees are utilizing to the new standards. Lei can take a look at what number of redress papers for timekeeping have been documented, days employees were non-attendant, what amount was sold amid a given movement/time period and cash earned. Anything that may help Lei demonstrate that the workers are purposefully including hours that havent been met expectations. Step 4: Taking action to reinforce successes and correct problems - This last step is the place the fitting move will be made if there is a need. For example, if a specific worker has incredible deals, or has indicated extraordinary change with client fulfillment, then Lei would need to recognize the employees’ success. In this case however if Lei sees any longer time clock fabrication then she will need to take the correct restorative activities as expressed in the updated handbook. In the event that the issue is not secured in the handbook then it needs to be added as fast as

Answer 3 history questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answer 3 history questions - Essay Example However, Lincoln’s tolerance in the matter was criticized by the Radical republicans who were of the absence of any Black civil rights in the Presidential Plan. After all the Blacks were emancipated after the Civil War, the Radicals were now demanding greater rights for them as equal Americans. Abraham Lincoln was the assassinated in 1865 after which President Andrew Johnson passed legislatures in the Southern states which limited the rights of Blacks to a set of codes. Hence, the period under the administration of President Johnson saw laws restricting Black rights and supporting the domination of the Whites (Public Broadcasting Service a, n.pag.). Along with support from President Johnson and his restrictive Black codes, the Southerners tried to maintain slavery in essence. Anger erupted in the North against the unfair black codes having a detrimental effect on the support for the Presidential Reconstruction. Support for the Radical wing of the Republicans increased and in t he next congressional election of 1866, the Radical republicans won. A massive majority of seats won by them allowed them to influence the Reconstruction in the Congress. Furthermore, it could supersede any refusals of permissions made by Johnson. In the Reconstruction Act passed in 1867, five Southern Confederate states were divided into military districts and gave a framework of how the government would be organized. Southern states were also prescribed to authorize the Fourteenth Amendment so as to allow equal rights and protection for the Black slaves before they were readmitted to the Union. Following the Reconstruction Act the Blacks acquired a say in the government regulations which was a remarkable step in the history of the American politics. Years later, however, counterrevolutionary players including the Ku Klux Klan would cause reversal of the legislations brought about by the Radical Republicans thereby spurring up hostility and white supremacy in the Southern States (P ublic Broadcasting Service a, n.pag.). The 1925 film The Birth of a Nation illustrated the same era of the Southern states after the American Civil War. The film distorted the reality of the Reconstruction period by showing the Blacks as dominating the Whites in the South thereby providing glorification of the Ku Klux Klan (Public Broadcasting Service b, n.pag.). 2. John Gast’s painting Manifest Destiny, also known as the American Progress, is a vivid presentation of the American West in the 19th century. The painting demonstrates the advancements in technology as the conventional travois used by Native Americans is followed by a wagon and then a pony express. Railroads can also be seen where the trains are travelling over the rails. With the construction of railroads after the American Civil War, the West was opened up for settlers across America as well as other continents. When seen sequentially, the painting demonstrates the American Progress as it is with the Native Amer icans coming in their travois before the European and American explorers came in their carriages and expresses. Then after them came the farmers and other settlers from other parts of the country via railroads in trains. White settlers arrived from the East crossing the Mississippi while the African American settlers came from the

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay Example for Free

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay A. Introduction of Viet Nam Vietnam is approximately 331688 km2 in area and occupied the eastern coast of the Southeast Asian peninsula. The northern part of the country part consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta. The south is divided into coastal lowlands and extensive forests. Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. During the winter or dry season (November to April), the monsoon wind blowing from the northwest brings considerably moisture. Consequently the winter season in most parts of the country is dry. Major Vietnamese cities include Hanoi in the north, Da Nang in the mid coastal region, and Ho Chi Minh City (formally known as Saigon) to the south. Vietnam has considerable energy resources such as oil, gas and coal and its 41,000 km long waterways provide the basis for hydropower. The country is rich in minerals such as bauxite, iron ore, lead, gold, precious stones, tin, chromate, anthracite, granite, marble, clay, white sand and graphite. In addition, Vietnam has a considerable fresh and saltwater fauna, dense tropical forestry resources and it possesses great agricultural potential. The history of Vietnam, reference to the Geneva Accord signed in 1954. The accord ended French colonial rule, and the country was partitioned into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh and the Republic of Vietnam in the South. The capitals were Hanoi for the North and Saigon for the South. Fights led by Ho Chi Minh to unite the country started in 1959 and lasted until 1975. Hanoi became the capital of the country whilst Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Following reunification, the Vietnamese government’s initial plan was to manage the economy via methods of central planning. Based on experiences gained during the 1976-1980 five years plan, subsequent central plans introduced more relaxed policies with respect to agricultural collectives, State Owned Enterprises and allowed more scope for private initiatives. These measures were instrumental in elevating poverty.  Growth rates during the early 80’s were higher than during the 1976-1980 five year pl an, however it became evident that further policy shift were necessary to enable the Vietnam economy to perform closer to its potential. Economic reform was the key point of discussion at the Sixth National Party Congress held in December 1986. The process then initiated of moving from a centrally planned economy to an open, socialist-oriented and multi-sector market economy known as Doi Moi (renovation). In 1992, the National Assembly revised the post-unification constitution to better reflect the aspirations articulated in the Doi Moi process. Economic performance since 1986 has justified the policy of relaxation of central control, the challenge faced by Vietnam has been the maintenance of rapid economic growth and integration into the global economy. B. â€Å"P.E.S.T.L.E† REPORT ON VIET NAM 1. Politics The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single-party state. Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society. In 2011, Viet Nam held the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party, in which happened the Election of the Party Central Committee for the new term. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong was elected to be the General Secretary. After the Congress, there happened the fist Congress of the Parliament, term 13th, in which Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung was elected to be the President of the Parliament, Mr. Truong Tan Sang the President of the Country, and Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung was elected to continue the position of Prime Minister. This Congress also issued 4 degrees: first, approving the State Budget, second, agreeing on the program of building laws and ordinances in2012, third, beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establ ishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution, and finally, the degree on the issuance of certain additional tax measures to remove difficulties for enterprises and individuals, contributing to economic development in 2011. In 2011, the disputes over the East Sea was the main cause of some changes in relations between Vietnam and some important countries in the world, especially the  Vietnam China and Viet Nam U.S. Tension in the East Sea has escalated due to Chinas provocative acts in May, 2011. Then happened many anti-Chinese protests in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city. In this context, the relation between Viet Nam and the U.S was proclaimed to be elevated to strategic partnership.4 And late 2011, the tensions in the Vietnam-China relations down to the visit by the senior officials of the two countries. In terms of politically domestic policy, the government kept a political stability, and showed some positive signs. For example, the freedom of the press seemed to be extended. In addition, the government was also more aware of its limitations and of the policy mistakes. Concretely, at the Fourth Conference of the Party Central Committee (XI), Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong said: ―Besides the achievements, the Party building work still has many limitations and shortcomings, weaknesses, even spanning multiple defects; these limitations would reduce peoples trust in the Party; if not corrected, they will be the challenge for leadership of the Party and the survival of the regime. 2. Economy The year of 2011 was important for the economy of Viet Nam because this is the first year in the latest Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2011-2020), with the goal of becoming an industrialized and modern economy by 2020. This strategy goes on to identify the country’s key priorities to meet this ambitious target: stabilize the economy, build world-class infrastructure, create a skilled labor force, and strengthen market-based institutions. According to Vietnam Development Report (VDR) 2012, meeting these aspirations will not be easy. In fact, the country has experienced bouts of macroeconomic turbulence in recent years—double-digit inflation, depreciating currency, capital flight, and loss of international reserves—eroding investor confidence. Besides, rapid growth has revealed new structural problems. The quality and sustainability of growth remain a source of concern, given the resource-intensive pattern of growth, high levels of environmental degradation, lack of diversification and value addition in exports, and the declining contribution of productivity to growth. Vietnam’s competitiveness is under threat because the power  generation has not kept pace with demand, logistical costs and real estate prices have climbed, and skill shortages are becoming more widespread. And these difficulties strongly existed in 2011. Concretely, the inflation in 2011 was 18.13%; the growth of GDP has slowed (5,89%). Domestic and international gold price gap increased. The Corruption index 2011 from Transparency International ranked Viet Nam at the position 112. This shows that Viet Nam has been faced one of the most difficult challenges of economic development. In terms of financial, according to the document of World Bank, in 2011, foreign direct investment inflows (to Viet Nam) continued at a steady pace, although new commitments declined. International reserves increased in the first half of the year while the Vietnamese dong benefitted from a period of relative calm. In the last quarter of the year, however, exchange rate fluctuations increased due to volatility in gold prices, deepening uncertainties and the seasonal increase in demand for foreign currency as the year end approaches. With approximate 9 billion U.S. dollars, the amount of money coming from overseas Vietnamese was one of the biggest sources of foreign currency in 2011. This amount is equivalent to the amount of FDI. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japanese are the countries that contributed the biggest investment to Viet Nam in 2011. Hai Duong, Ho Chi Minh city, and Ha Noi are three places that has been most invested in recent time. The sectors that most attract the attention of foreign investors are processing industry, electricity supply, and accommodation and dining service. However, according to the analysis of a chief economist, Dr. Allan Pham, though facing the difficulties as mentioned above, the economy is coming to a better prospect in 2012, especially with a certain success in the fight against inflation of the country (the inflation has been trending down since the 4th quarter of 2011). Following is the figure of the selected macro indicators of the economy in recent years: Key Indicators 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 GDP growth (%) 8.5 6.2 5.3 6.78 5.8 6.0 CPI (%) 12.6 23 6.52 11.75 18.0 12-14 Trade deficit (USD) 12.5 17.8 12.2 12.4 12.1 13.3 Exports (USD) 48.4 62.5 56.6 71.6 80.2 86.5 Imports (USD) 60.8 80.3 68.8 84.0 92.4 99.8 FDI commitments (USD) 21.3 66.5 21.5 18.6 15.0 18.0 FDI disbursement (USD) 8.0 11.5 10.0 11.0 12.0 12.5 Credit growth (%) 54 21 37.7 27.6 15 18 SBV Base rate 8.2 8.5 8.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 Deposit rate (%) 7.0-8.0 7.0-8.5 9.5-10.5 10.0- 11.0 14 12.0 Lending rate (%) 10.0-12.0 10-12.5 10.5-12 13.0-13.5 18-20 14-16 USD/VND (bank rate) 16,016 17,468 18,600 19,500 21,500 22,500 Foreign Affairs At present, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 168 countries, and it has economic and trading relations with about 165 countries. Vietnam joined the United Nations in 1977. Vietnam became an official member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, and has concluded a cooperation agreement with the European Community. Relationships with multi-national financial institutions such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been re-established. Viet Nam has been participating in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (â€Å"AFTA†) since 1996 and became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in 1998. Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 January 2007. In January 2008, the country started a two year term as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Vietnam signed the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United Sta tes in 2000. Besides aspects of international trade, the BTA covers a variety of other areas, including intellectual property rights, trade in services, development of investment relations, business  facilitation and the obligation to ensure transparency of laws and regulations. The BTA essentially constitutes a commitment by both countries to open their markets to each other. Intellectual Property In recent years, the Government has taken various measures to increase the legal protection of intellectual property and has created an environment of respect for intellectual property as compared to other neighboring countries. Intellectual property rights are protected by the Civil Code (1995 and 2005), the Law on Intellectual Property (2005) and a host of subordinate legislation. Vietnam is a long-time signatory to the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (â€Å"PCT†) and became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1976. On 27 June 1997, Vietnam entered into an Agreement on copyrights with the US. According to the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, Vietnam is under the obligation to adhere to the Berne Convention. The National Office of Intellectual Property (â€Å"NOIP†) is the authority responsible for the registration of industrial property and for the resolutio n of disputes with regard to industrial property in the first instance. Foreign organizations and individuals seeking to register their industrial ownership should file their applications through an authorized agent, who will transfer their application to the NOIP. The Office of Copyright Protection under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has also been established and is responsible for the protection of copyright. Works may be registered with the Office of Copyright Protection; however, registration is not a prerequisite for copyright protection. Currently, patents are protected for a period of 20 years. A certificate of utility solutions may be granted for 10 years. A certificate of industrial design is granted for 5 years and may be renewed every 5 years. However, the total effective period of a certificate cannot exceed 15 years. Certificates of trademarks are granted for 10 years with no restrictions on the number of renewals. Investment Guarantees The Government of Vietnam guarantees fair treatment for investors. Capital and other legal assets of investors will not be expropriated or confiscated by law or administrative measures and businesses with foreign-invested  capital will not be nationalized. Foreign investors are allowed to remit abroad investment capital and profits, loan principal and interest, and other legal proceeds and assets. Expatriates working for businesses with foreign-invested capital or for a business cooperation contract are permitted to remit their income abroad. The Vietnam government respects intellectual and industrial property rights and the interests of foreign investors relating to technology transfers into Vietnam. Economic Risks Global Finance Crisis is the hottest issues that people discuss most in this few years. The global financial crisis that started from the United States raises a very broad impact to Vietnam. Inflation Inflation has been in double digits since 2007 and peaking at 28% in August 2008. The fiscal deficit accounted for 4.5-5% GDP in 2008 while trade deficit reached US$17.5 billion (or over 20% of GDP), a level that signals vulnerability to a sudden drop in external demand (Figure 2). A high rate of investment combined with a sizeable fiscal deficit resulted in rapid growth in aggregate demand in the first half of 2008. Massive capital inflows generated asset price inflation, especially in real estate and land prices. Export Decline Vietnamese exports have suffered the strongest negative impact. With economic problems in the US, EU and Japan, which together account for more than 60% of Vietnamese exports, Vietnam saw a significant decline in export revenues. Vietnam’s export revenues fell 6.5% in November 2008 and a further 24% drop in January 2009 (year-on-year) (Figure 3). Orders for manufactured exports including garments, footwear and furniture dropped quickly, while seafood5 producers are also under pressure. The decline of orders has caused great difficulties for exporting companies, many of them are at risk of closing down.6 Vietnamese exports’ growth is forecasted to decline from 30% in 2008 to 13% in 2009. Unemployment Unemployment has worsened. At February 28, 2009, 66,700 workers (out of 45 million workers) lost their jobs in 2008 with national unemployment rate of 4.65%. Thus, it is estimated that over 80,000 workers lost their jobs  nationwide in 2008. The latest forecast of Vietnam Labor and Employment Agency estimates the figure to hit 400,000 nationwide in 2009. Job cuts are rising especially in big cities11 with industrial, processing and exporting zones. The situation may worsen in 2009 with an unemployment rate of 5% and at a projected economic growth of 6.5%. High unemployment has already affected domestic demand and consumers’ sentiment in Vietnam, which are bearish in recent months. 3. Socio-Culture 3.1 Education Viet Nams population enjoys a relatively high standard of education. In fact, Confucian ethics has strongly influenced upon Vietnamese’s viewpoint of social values, and education has always been considered as one of the best values that a person should desire to achieve. Nowadays, education has been still considered as one of the most important issues that the country has to pay great attention. Recently, at the 11th Party Congress, the government is determined to develop a national education policy as one of the priorities of the country. As a result, the country has gained big success in education. Concretely, according to the 2009 Census results, there are only nearly four million people who have never attended school (5.0% of the total population aged 5 years and over) and as compared with the 1999 Census this number has decreased 5% (6.9 million people, account for 10.0% of population aged 5 and over). This shows the significant progress of Vietnam’s education sect or in minimizing the number of people who never go to school. The official figures also point out that the literacy rate for the population aged 15 years and over increased by 3.7% (from 90.3% in 1999 to 94.0% in 2009). The female literacy rate increased 4.9%, while the male literacy rate increased 2.2%, significantly narrowing the literacy rate gap between men and women. Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City are three provinces having the highest literacy rate (97.9%) while Lai Chau has the lowest (59.4%). This data shows that the literacy rate was not only increased quite rapidly but also express successes of Vietnam’s gender equality work in the education sector.13 Certainly, besides such successes, Vietnamese education system also has faced many challenges,  including poor infrastructure, lack of equipment and teaching materials, low wages precipitating an acute shortage of skilled teachers and academic staff, a relatively poor linkage of higher education with research, production and employment, and some contradictions of the system. As the analysis of RFA, the situation of education in Viet Nam in 2011 had some notable points as following: There were three positive points of the education in Vietnam in 2011. The first point is the plan of reducing the load of textbooks from primary to secondary school of the Ministry of Education and Training. The second is the plan of achieving universal preschool education for children of 5 years old. In this plan, the Ministry of Education will build public kindergartens for children at age 5 in the mountainous areas; and the poor students will be exempt from tuition fees, with the plan of over 95% of children enroll in 2 sessions / day by 2015. And the third is the policy of training and vocational training in poor areas such as the Highlands. On the contrary, there were also many crucially negative points of the education in 2011. First of all, there was the imbalance in enrollment in universities and colleges between students with practical needs. The sectors of social sciences, agriculture, forestry and fishery were registered by only 2.5% of exam registration records (while Vie tnam has up to 70% of the population are farmers). And the sectors in demand such as business, tourism had to be encountered the difference between training and recruitment practices; and this leads to the fact that graduates get difficulty to find job. Secondly, teacher’s salary does not meet their living when inflation is high; and this leads to some problems: the teachers could not focus on their business as they had to find extra jobs, or to open extra classes. Thirdly, there has existed the problem of the degradation in social ethics of many students, due to lack of paying attention on humanity teaching, which can be proved by many cases of students committed violent guilty or crime. 3.2 Human Resource The national average population in 2011 estimated 87.84 million, up by 1.04% compared to 2010, including male population 43.47 million, (49.5%), and female population 44.37 million, (50.5%). Urban population is 26.88 million,  (30.6%); rural population is 60.96 million (69.4 %). According to the official report, the population structure by age in Vietnam is in a positive change. The population in the working age is 46,48 million, increased 0,12% compared to 2010. The proportion of workers in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries declined from 48.7% in 2010 to 48.0% in 2011; in industry and construction rose from 21.7% to 22.4%; and in the services maintained at 29.6%. The unemployment rate in the working age was 2.27% in 2011, of which the urban areas account for 3.6%, the rural areas 1.71%. This is the period of the country with advantages in labor force, also known as the demographic window period, which began in 2003 and may last from 30 to 50 years. This is considered as a bi g advantage for the industrialization and modernization of the country, if it takes advantage of the superiority Vietnamese on the labor force. 3.3 Traffic: Conditions And Problems Highway system The road system consists of over 200,000 km network including over 10,000 bridges. However road conditions are not ideal, less than half of the national highways have two lanes or more. In addition, road congestion is increasing in major cities. In recent years, the Government has mobilized a significantly large amount of capital to upgrade the highway system with financial support from international lending agencies. Railway The rail network consists of about 2,600 km of single–track line covering several routes. There are about 260 stations in the network. The longest and most important route is the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City line, which stretches for 1,730 km. This line is now serviced by an express train, which makes the journey in approximately 29.5 hours. The lines connecting Vietnam to China were re-opened a few years ago. Inland Waterways Often overlooked by foreign investors, the inland waterway system offers a cheap and flexible mode of transport. Vietnam has more than 2,300 rivers and canals with total length of 198.000 km. Currently, the inland waterway has a system of over 61,000 km. The two major inland waterway systems serve as major transportation outlets. The first major inland waterway system is in  the Red River area in the north which stretches for approximately 2,500 km. Along this system there are five main ports, of which Hanoi is the largest. The second major inland waterway extends 4,500 km along the Mekong River and its tributaries in the South and boasts about 30 ports, including Ho Chi Minh City. The larger river vessels are tug-drawn barges. Official estimates put the fleet capacity at about 420,000 tons with speeds ranging from 2 to over 20 km an hour. Smaller, wooden barges are mostly privately owned. Ports Vietnam has eleven major seaports. Ho Chi Minh City serves most of the South and now boasts modern container loading facilities. Just a few hours’ drive from Hanoi, Hai Phong serves much of the North. Given the rapid rise in trade volume, increasing port capacity is a national priority. Airports and Civil Aviation There are three international airports: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang. Currently, the Government has significantly upgraded international airports to handle the increase in the volume of traffic associated with Vietnams invigorated economy. A new international terminal of the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, capable of handling up to 10 million passengers a year was opened in December 2007. Noi Bai airport in Hanoi was upgraded, enlarged and completed for operation in 2002, construction of a second terminal is expected to start in October 2008 and completed in two years. Four new international airports are planned to be constructed in Phu Quoc, Dong Nai, Lao Cai and Quang Ninh provinces. Preparations for the new Long Thanh International Airport, 40 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province is underway. The airport is scheduled to open in 2010 and by 2015 it will be further expanded to reach an annual transportation capacity of 80 to 100 million passengers, becoming one of the biggest airports in the region. In addition, there are 16 other domestic airports around the country. Culture and Social Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a culturally rich country whose distinct history played a role in the development of the modern day state. Vietnamese practices of Confucianism and showing reverence towards ancestors are evidence of China’s historical influence on Vietnamese  society. Vietnam became an independent state in the tenth century but was colonized by the French in the mid 1800s. Vietnam gained independence in the mid twentieth century but still retains traces of French culture which are visible in the way people communicate verbally and nonverbally. Though Vietnam has struggled over the past century through colonial rule, the Vietnam War and recent economic upheavals, it is now rebuilding itself to be able to compete on a global scale. Having a comprehensive understanding of Vietnam’s unique cultural values and traditions can allow the company to develop strong and successful business relationships with Vietnamese counterparts. Language Vietnamese is the official language, although there are distinct northern, central and southern dialects and accents. It is a tonal language, with each syllable; there are six different tones that can be used, which change the definition and it often makes it difficult for foreigners to pick up the language. There are other languages spoken as well such as Chinese, Khmer, Cham and other languages spoken by tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions. Although there are some similarities to Southeast Asian languages, such as Chinese, Vietnamese is thought to be a separate language group, although a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family. In written form, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and accent marks to show tones. This system of writing called â€Å"quoc ngu†, was created by Catholic missionaries in the 17th century to translate the scriptures. Eventually this system, particularly after World War I, replaced one using Chinese characters (chu nom), which had been the u nofficial written form used for centuries. Non-verbal communication For certain feelings, Vietnamese people favor non-verbal communication. Vietnamese do not express feeling of thankfulness of apology in verbal communication, but non-verbal through silence or a smile. The proper respectful behavior is to avoid eye contact when talking to person who is not equal status or of the same gender. The smile is another non-verbal symbol conveying the feeling of respect in Vietnamese culture. It is used as an expression of apology, or as expression of embarrassment. For the Vietnamese a smile is a proper response in most situation in which verbal expression is not necessary, or appropriate. Confucianism The teachings of Confucius influence the Vietnamese describe the position of the individual in Vietnamese society. Confucian teachings emphasize the importance of relationships, responsibility and obligation. This philosophy is still a vital component of Vietnamese society and is prevalent in Vietnamese business culture in conserving the harmony of the collective good. The basic tenets are based upon five different relationships: Ruler and subject Husband and wife Parents and children Brothers and sisters Friends Hierarchy As like other group-oriented societies, Vietnam hierarchical structures are very much based upon age and status. This derives from Confucianism, which emphasizes social order. Everyone is seen as having a distinct place and role within the hierarchical structure, be it the family or workplace. An obvious example is seen in social situations where the oldest person in a group is greeted or served first. Within the family the head would be responsible for making decisions and approving marriages. Therefore companies that want to invest in Vietnam are made sense to give more authority to local managers to control the subordinates. The organization structure can be designed as hierarchical, with power derived from prestige, force, and inheritance. Collectivism Vietnam is a collectivist society in which the needs of the group are often placed over the individual. Family and community concerns will almost always come before business or individual needs. Family in particular plays an important role in Vietnamese society. You will notice that close ties between extended families and communities can have a major influence on individual behavior and oftentimes there are multiple generations living under one roof. For this reason, the company of the investor can pay more attention to their employees’ family members for example provide free medical treatment, childcare leave, family trips, etc. This can increase the employees’ loyalty to the company. Besides, in order to increase efficiency of Vietnamese employees, the company should assign tasks to them by group rather than individual. Religion Religion in Vietnam is closely related to the history of Vietnam and most importantly the culture of Vietnam. The earliest established religions in Vietnam were Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism (called the ‘triple religion’). These religions have been co-existing in the country for centuries and mixed well with the Vietnamese tradition of ancestor worship. This special mix explains why the Vietnamese people find it hard to say exactly which religion the belong to. They usually classify themselves as non-religious, despite visiting religious temples several times every year. At the year 2006, the major religious affiliations amongst Vietnam born people were Buddhism (58.6%), Catholics (22.1%), other (4.6%), and no religion (11.03%). From the data, we were found that Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism have greatly affected the Vietnamese’s behavior. The foreign investors should take note there are quite a large number of vegetarian in Vietnam, because of th e Buddhism religion. Food of Vietnamese Food is a very important part of Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese not only enjoy eating but believe eating good food can bring harmony and closeness to the family and relationships. The types of foods are chosen to bring luck and these vary from province to province. Buying daily for fresh food is essential for all Vietnamese cooking. In general, Vietnamese people are not as concerned about nutrition as Westerner. They are more concerned with the quality of the foods. Concepts of Time Like most Asians, the Vietnamese have a more extended concept of time than that of most Americans. The agrarian nature of their traditional society focuses on seasons rather than days or weeks. And this tradition is reinforced by the Confucian tradition of respect for earlier generations. Americans measure time by the clock, Vietnamese by the monsoon. Although this is changing somewhat, Vietnamese can still be expected to take a longer view of time and be suspicious of the need for urgency in making decisions  or culminating a business deal. Patience remains the ultimate Confucian virtue in personal life as well as in business. Personal Relationships In Vietnam, propriety and courtesy play a major role in personal relationships. Vietnamese are generally more interpersonally formal than are Americans. This formality decreases the uncertainty surrounding interpersonal contacts in Vietnamese society and is carried over into the business realm for the same reasons. During initial meetings with Vietnamese officials, you can expect little real business to be accomplished. The Vietnamese will concentrate on getting to know youyour background, your expertise, your character. In their high-context communication culture, they will depend heavily on non-verbal clues to assess meaning. By becoming acquainted and establishing a personal relationship with you, they are merely trying to understand you better. Vietnamese society is comprised of an interconnected network of personal relationships, all of which carry obligations on both sides. These mutual obligations are the underpinnings of social order in Vietnam, so they are taken very serious ly. Americans need to understand and be sensitive to the serious nature of what may seem to them to be casual business relations. Failure to do so could easily result in a loss of trust or credibility, with obvious implications for longer-term relationships. 4. Technology In terms of technology, Viet Nam is a rapidly developing country. The year 2011 was the beginning of the strategic plan of economic and social development, period 2011-2020, in which infrastructural building is considered as one of main targets. With this plan, the country has been building many expressways and will let the local transport network be eventually upgraded to meet the requirements of rural industrialization and modernization, and connect itself with the national system. In addition, the above plan also includes a project which will work to narrow its scientific and technological gap with the world in some key fields by 2020. To launch this project, the Government will give top priority to enhancing the competence of scientists and related managers while encouraging the organization of training courses partnered with foreign competent partners. According to the project, the Government will focus on scientific and technological renovation to sharpen the competitive edge of local products and assisting businesses to purchase patents in some prioritized areas: biotechnology, information technology, new materials technology Nano technology , manufacturing technology and automation. 5. Legislation The communist party-controlled government of Vietnam has ruled under four state constitutions. The first was promulgated in 1946, the second in 1959, the third in 1980, and the current in 1992 (amended in 2001). Significantly, each bore the mark of its time. On paper, all these constitutions seem to establish a solid democracy. In fact, the purpose of the 1946 constitution was essentially to provide the communist regime with freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. The second constitution was explicitly communist in character. Its preamble described the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a peoples democratic state led by the working class, and the document provided for a nominal separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The 1980 Constitution concentrates power in a newly established Council of State much like the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, endowing it nominally with both legislative and executive powers. Many functions of the legi slature remain the same as under the 1959 document, but others have been transferred to the executive branch or assigned to both branches concurrently. The executive branch appears strengthened overall, having gained a second major executive body, the Council of State, and the importance of the National Assembly appears to have been reduced accordingly. The role of the Council of Ministers, while appearing on paper to have been subordinated to the new Council of State, in practice retained its former primacy. Having inherited the previous constitutions with substantial and basic changes, on the one hand, the 1992 Constitution continues reaffirming the basic principles in the constitutional history of Vietnam. First, it reiterates the target of socialist construction in Vietnam and the popular nature of the State. Second, the 1992 Constitution continues affirming the Communist Party of Vietnam’s leadership over the State and the society.  Third, it continues affirming the mechanism of State powers performed by the people through the National Assembly and the People’s Councils, the organization and operation of the State under the principle of concentrated powers; the concentration of State powers uniformly into the National Assembly with the division of responsibility among State bodies for the exercise of the legislative power, executive power and judicial power. On the other hand, the 1992 Constitution sees big changes: Vietnam decided to take economic renewal as the cent ral task, First, building the multi-sector and multi-ownership market economy along the socialist orientation. open-door policy and international economic integration. In reality, however, final authority on all matters rested with the Political Bureau; especially, the guarantees provided by the constitutions for freedom of speech, the press, and assembly has been never intended to be carried out. The constitutions eventually show its limitations since Vietnam has joined the stream of globalization, especially in the field of human rights and land-ownership law. In a report made public at the Conference on the Rule of law for human rights in the ASEAN region held by the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN (HRRCA) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 30 April 2011, Mr. Vo Van Ai, President of Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights called on Vietnam to urgently reform its legal system and bring domestic legislation into line with international human rights laws. Mr. Vo Van Ai declared: ―36 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the rule of law exists only in theory in Vietnam. The government has incorporated human rights into its 1992 Constitution. Yet it has also adopted a whole arsenal of Laws, Decrees, Ordinances and Decisions which restrict or even nullify the exercise of these rights, in total violation of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam adhered in 1982â€â€". At the beginning of the New Year 2012 (Jan 1, 2012), there happened The Tien Lang land withdrawal case: in Tien Lang district (on the outskirts of Haiphong, a port city east of Hanoi) a fish farmer, Doan Van Vuong, and his family had resisted a large force moving in to enforce an eviction order. With an improvised mine and muskets bought on the black market, they’d wounded two soldiers and four policemen, including the local police chief. Prime  Minister Nguyen Tan Dung himself had to meet the Haiphong City authorities to resolve the case; and finally came to the conclusion on Feb 2 that the Haiphong government was absolutely wrong in the case; and he ordered the Haiphong City authorities to review their wrong works as and repair the situation. This case is just one among so many cases that show matters association with the land law. And this shocked case has raised the question of reforming the land law, which has been ambiguously claimed by the constitution as ―land is possessed by the whole peopleâ€â€". Mr. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, comments that ―it’s possible to see the recent incident at Tien Lang as a climactic demonstration of the faults in our Land Law and how it is implemented at the local level. A good farmer, pure, simple and hardworking, who’s driven to defend his right to his land with home-made weapons – what misery! Everybody believes that there’s such a thing as justice and that the law ensures it. Certainly that’s what the farmers who built the fish ponds at Tien Lang believed. They went to the court expecting fair play, but the simple truths they understood proved elusive. The hopelessness of their situati on drove them to take desperate measures. As mentioned above, the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party held in 2011 issued four degrees; and one of them is beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution. This is urgent and necessary for the development of the country. 6. Environment Viet Nam is blessed by the nature, with a great ecological and hydrological diversity. The country is made up of equatorial lowlands, high, temperate plateaus and cooler mountainous areas. It lies in the inter-tropical zone and local conditions vary from frosty winters in the far northern hills to the year-round subequatorial warmth of the Mekong Delta. At sea level, the mean annual temperature is about 27 °C in the south, falling to about 21 °C in the far north. Geographically, it stretches over 1600km (1000mi) along the eastern coast of the Indochinese Peninsula; and has two main cultivated areas, that are the Red River Delta (15,000 sq km/5400 sq mi) in the north  and the Mekong Delta (60,000 sq km/23,400 sq mi) in the south. Vietnam also has diverse wildlife, with rare and precious fauna such as elephants, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, black bear, snub-nosed monkey, crocodile and turtle. Forest area accounts for 2% of total forests in East Asia and Pacific. Fish catch is amon g the 10 highest countries in the world, with 1,451,800 tons per year. However, as the report of the World Bank on the environment in Viet Nam, ―Rapid economic growth in Vietnam over the last ten years, and its associated industrialization, urbanization, as well as increased exploitation of natural resources, has created significant pressures for the environment.â€â€"35 For example, the diverse wildlife is in precipitous decline because of the destruction of habitats, illegal hunting and pollution. In fact, Viet Nam Rhino was officially extinct in 2011. One of the most obvious examples for illustrating the environmental pollution is the phenomenon of getting narrowed of the lakes in Ha Noi. According to the Hanoi Construction Department, there are 111 ponds and lakes in Hanoi which cover a total area of 1165 hectares. The total area of lakes has decreased sharply during the urbanization, while a lot of them have disappeared. It is estimated that 80% of the lakesides have got polluted, 71% of lakes have suffered from pollution, 26% of the lakes still do not have embankments, while 8% of lakes have partial embankments. Environmentalists have called on to take urgent actions to protect the remaining lakes, or they would also disappear one day. Vietnam is among the countries that can be seriously affected by climate change. And the fact shows that the increasing deterioration of environmental conditions is emerging as a barrier to growth and development in recent years. In fact, according to the General Statistics Office, domestic natur al disasters occurred in 2011 has made 257 people dead and missing, 267 wounded; nearly 1.2 thousand houses collapsed and swept away; 391.8 thousand houses were submerged or damaged; more than 760 km of dykes, and the 680 km road motorized traffic bursts, landslides; 867 power poles broken or poured; nearly 54,000 hectares of rice and vegetables has been lost; more than 330,000 hectares of rice crops were flooded or damaged. Total value of damage caused by natural disasters in 2011 was estimated at over 10 trillion VND. Thus, this is really a big challenge of the country; and it needs a national and urgent action to prevent an ecological and hydrological catastrophe. C. BRIEF CONCLUSION With the aforementioned analysis of ―P.E.S.T.L.Eâ€â€", we see that in 2011, on the one hand, Viet Nam constantly attempted to keep its strategic plan of development, and also has obtained some important goals; on the other hand, the country had to face many difficulties and challenges which came both from outside and from inside. In my opinion, there are some main issues that the government should pay great attention in the coming years: reforming the education system, fighting against corruption (especially, promoting fiscal transparency and the public availability of economic data and information), reforming the state-owned sectors, amending laws, narrowing the gap between the Kinh, the Hoa and the ethnic minority groups, and improving environmental conditions.

What extent could government policies affect house prices

What extent could government policies affect house prices In 2009 British house prices has first to their annual decline since at least 2002. According to the British media, home prices in London actually faced the worse prices down 5.3%. The London Housing Prices are perhaps one of the most popular issues of discussion in UK. To some extent this is due to the fact housing prices have nearly trebled since the mid 1990s. Because of this landlords have seen huge gains of wealth which has left with a apparently impossible task for those trying for buying a house. Since the Wall Street crash in 1929, the economies situation in 2009 was described as the worst financial crisis. The unemployment, credit crunch, failing banks and businesses led the economy into a prolonged recession. The UK housing market is cyclical and is quite familiar with the booms and busts of the economic cycle. The UK housing market is very fundamental sector in the economy. The country performance as a whole is closely related with the performance of the housing market. Before the crises the situation of the countrys economy was that there was huge amount of money flowing in the economy, due to attractive demand banks were confident to lend the money, but the dealings of 2009 came about when the banks failed to collect all the money back they lent, therefore they reduced their lending which leads to collapse of large banks in the market. Ultimately the result effected the consumers that now it became difficult for them to obtain a mortgage from banks. Now the only way to get hold on a house left with cash transaction which results in fall in demand for housing. People started to rent a house rather buying. Therefore, a decrease in demand for housing results in house prices were failing. This is perhaps due to the factors that determine the prices of houses in a free market. So if we study the last three years of the housing market it will show us a very interesting picture. But at this stage we need to take into consideration those factors which affect the housing prices. Following are the key factors that play a very important role to determine housing prices in a free market Source: http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/house-prices/what-factors-effect-house-prices/ Factors That Affect House Prices in UK House prices are affected by a combination of supply and demand factors. Demand Side Factors: These are the basic factor which plays an important role in determination of the house prices. If demand is higher than the supply housing prices will increase and if demand for the house is lower than the supply ultimately prices will decrease. The new housing societys development is very low in UK as compare to demand, which is the fundamental reason for higher housing prices. For house prices to fall, the demand would need to fall extensively. Of course there are many factors that determine demand for houses. Economic Growth / Real income. High economic growth and diminishing unemployment increases disposable income meaning people can spend more on buying a house. It also increases confidence in buying a house. Moreover, the significant rise in Per Capita Income enables people to spend more on buying a house in a free market. By tradition, the mortgage ratio was 3 times of the salary. For instance, if there is a person who earns  £20,000 the building society would led him  £60,000. Therefore, rising incomes leads to rise in housing demand which further enables house prices to rise. On the other hand if the economy goes into a recession and unemployment rises, the demand for buying houses would fall significantly. Interest Rates Interest rates affect the cost of paying for a mortgage. Mortgage Interest Rate is the most important factor that affects housing prices. The cost of interest payments on mortgage depends on the interest rate set by the Bank of England. If interest rates are raised, the cost of mortgage repayments rises this discourages people from buying and it may force people to sell. For instance, in 1992 interest rates were rose over 12% which caused a large fall in demand for housing and house prices fell. However, in 2009 interest rates have been cut very low (1.5%) but demand is still falling. Though it is cheap to pay a mortgage, but, this is outweighed by the fact mortgage availability is low and confidence is low. Availability of Mortgage Finance Study shows that in 50s, 60s and 70s, there were strict restrictions about the availability of finance. However, with the increase in deregulation of the banking sector there has been rise in competition in the number of mortgage products like interest only, self certification mortgages and mortgages up to 6 times income have enabled people to get more mortgages, which leads to increasing demand for housing. However, during the credit crunch of 2008, the number of mortgage products on offer fell due to a deficiency of finance in the money markets which leads to decrease in demand. Demographics / Population The growing levels of net migration are increasing demand for houses. The immigration from Eastern Europe, like Poland and Romania are enhancing the UK population. Therefore, initiating increase in demand. Moreover, growing number of households are demographic changes such as number of people living alone. E.g. rising divorce rates have raised number of single people living alone. Future Price Expectations. There is an aspect of hesitant buying in the housing Market. This is mainly the case in the buy to let market. When people look forward to falling house prices in 2008, it may give confidence to people to sell and cash in their capital gains. If we are not careful falling prices can create a multiplier effect where others are positive to sell. Obviously, most people buy a house to live in, not as an investment. But, diminishing prices will encourage some prospective homeowners to rent rather than buy. Speculation Everyone doesnt buy a house to live in it. An increasing number of property investors buy houses to try and make both capital gains and income from renting. During the past few decades the number of buy to let investors in the UK has risen. Although UK house prices have increased faster than inflation, renting has also become expensive which is the main substitute to buying a house. Supply side Factors This is a second most important factor that affects the housing prices in a free market. A decrease in supply is also responsible to raise housing prices, especially in long term. Some predict UK housing prices will significantly rise in long term due to long-term shortage of supply. In the US housing market, they currently have a surplus of supply so a bounce back in the property market is unlikely. In the short run Supply of housing is fixed because it takes time to build houses. Therefore in the short run demand affects prices more than supply. However if the supply of housing is inelastic then an increase in demand will lead to a big increase in price. In the long Run the supply of housing is affected by many factors: Market Reaction If people observe house prices increasing and they expect prices to keep on rising, more people will buy a house. Also, when confidence in the market is high, lenders are more willing to lend mortgages with small deposits / large income multiples. But now in 2009 confidence is very low, people see house prices falling so dont want to buy and banks dont want to lend mortgages without a big deposit. Location The locality causes major variations in UK house prices by geographical area. Even within different areas of London, house prices can vary terrifically. Availability of planning permission. This is difficult to obtain in rural areas. Opportunity cost for builders e.g. are there better returns from other types of investment. Existing houses may be knocked down because they are deemed unfit to live in. An increase in the cost of building new houses will shift supply to the left. In the UK, it is argued there is a significant shortage of housing is this explains why house prices have risen much faster than inflation and earnings. However, in the US, the supply of housing increased in the period upto 2008 and therefore, the excess supply and falling demand led to a big fall in demand. However, it is important to note that house prices can still fall, even if there is a shortage of supply. In 1992, house prices in London fell over 20%, even though we can say supply is inelastic. A shortage of supply just means they will be on average higher. It doesnt mean they are incapable of falling. http://www.uk-houseprices.co.uk/housing_market/factors_affecting_prices.html Why House Prices are falling in the UK Since the peak in July 2007, UK house prices have fallen considerably. Following are the main reasons for falling house prices: Difficulty of Getting Mortgage due to credit crunch. Low affordability (high house price to income ratios) Economic recession and rising unemployment. Nobody wants to buy when house prices are falling. Government Interventions in Determining the Interest Rate in UK It is the responsibility of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and Bank of England to set Interest rates in UK. The MPC works independently from the Government. Before 1997, interest rates used to be set by the Chancellor. It was argued, with a degree of justification, interest rates were subject to political motivation. The government now just sets the MPC an inflation target of CPI = 2% +/- 1. The MPC aims to keep inflation as close to this target as possible. If inflation is above or below this level, the governor of the Bank of England has to write a letter of explanation to the chancellor. In theory, they only target inflation; however in practice they may consider the effects of interest rate changes on economic growth, unemployment, and to a lesser extent the housing market and the exchange rate. http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Factors-that-Affect-Property-Value/2491 The Government is in a way trying to prevent house prices falling by: Bailing out banks and encouraging them to lend e.g. RBS, Northern Rock etc. The MPC is drastically cutting interest rates to make borrowing cheaper. The government is putting pressure on the banks to pass these rate cuts on. Reduction in VAT and increased spending, could limit the extent of the recession. On the other hand, in the current economic crises it is difficult to see any government policy which could successfully prevent house prices fall. This is due to that there is a very strong negative momentum in houses prices, people think that they are overvalued and banks dont want to lend. Hence it doesnt make any difference what so ever government says or tries to do. The only policy which really would have stabilized house prices would be better stabilization of the credit boom and bust. If the government had forced banks to save more and share credit in the boom, the boom would have been less and banks would now have more resources to maintain lending in the current recession. So, the government cant really stop house prices falling. But, they should find much better policies to prevent a repeat of the boom and bust we have experienced twice in the past 17 years. London Housing Market Problems in the London Housing Market First Time Buyers struggling to get on Property Ladder The house prices have been increasing faster than incomes, which is making it more difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ladder. According to the Halifax the first time buyers in London need an average deposit of over  £41,000. So it becomes difficult for them to arrange the huge initial investment to get hold on a house. Supply Growing slower than demand The number of new houses and housing societies being built in London is very low. The main reason for this is the limited area of land within the city where new houses can be built. However the demand for various factors is keep on growing, such as net immigration and changing demographic factors. Shortage of Housing for Key Public Sector Workers The high rise in house prices to earnings means that there are many public sector workers like; nurses, teachers, fireman, policeman and civil servants are struggling to get hold on the property. For instance, comparing the average income of teachers in Greater London, the ration of House Prices has increased 4 times income (2003) to 7 times income (2009). With a shortage of key public sector workers the NHS, for example, has to encourage the migration of foreign nurses to fill the many gaps in its London hospitals. Speculative Buying creating potential for Boom and Bust There is a significant rises in house prices has been seen by the London Housing Market, regardless of the monetary falls in the early 1990s, it is seen as a good investment. As a result it has encouraged investors from abroad and UK to buy a house and make huge capital gains. In response to this the market has squeezed by increase in demand. Facts about London Housing Market There are over three million households in London. The amount of new developments of houses and housing societies in London represents a very tiny proportion of the total stock even less than 0.5 percent. London House Prices Average London property price is :  £351,028 April 2007 The most expensive area is Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea average house price is  £918,000. The cheapest area in London is Barking and Dagenham where average house price is  £181,802. 1990s the market witnessed falling prices with some house owners experiencing negative equity. The supply and demand graph show what has happened, due to declining incomes and consumer confidence and growing unemployment, the demand for housing shifted to left from D1 to D2. The Initial price was at P1 but due to surplus supply where demand go beyond supply) there was downward force on prices to decline to P2. Therefore the housing market in this case restricted from area 0P1E1Q TO 0P2E2Q. The supply curve for housing at any moment is actually unchanging. So a decrease in demand decreases prices rather than Quantity. After the utmost recession the UK economy jumps into action with an increase in GDP of 0.1%. The current position of the housing market in the UK is quite astonishing. House prices have been increasing constantly since May 2009 according to nationwide. With the low interest levels of 0.5% by the Bank of England have helped make mortgages more reasonable. Some argue that house prices have risen due to a shortage in supply since home owners are tentative to sell at current prices. The diagram shows a pointed recover in the prices of houses from early 2009, and a constant rise up till now. Source: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk A further explanation for this sharp rise in prices could be due to a lack of supply in the housing market. There is ambiguity in the market which is averting people from putting their estate on the market, this theory of hesitation and reluctance to put the property on the market can be down on a supply and demand diagram below. Source: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/archive.htm S2 P3 S S1Higher demand with squat supply has lead to the situation in the diagram. Due to low interest rates, affordability of housing has improved, lifting demand from D1 to D2. At the same time reluctant home owners have not put their properties on the ladder, leading to a fall in supply for houses from S1 to S. Overall this creates an upward force on prices from P1 to P3. Q2 Q Prediction: Anticipating amidst such an unsure economic environment can gently be depicted a challenge. Reviewing at the data of house prices it can be said that in the short-term future prices are probable to increase, as they have done in recent times, but in the medium to long-term are possible to fell down. House prices are possible to change with respect to region; London is most probably going to see a relative raise in prices as other area may not see such a positive coefficient of growth in prices. It is essential to be rational in ones judgement since interest are indubitably going to rise, an signal that mortgage rates will rise thats why demand will decrease in the housing sector, gloomy prices. Pay rates are likely to increase again in the next few years, results in more confidence and belief in buyers so one could argue demand may rise. Assumption will also play an important role; housing is generally seen as a good investment, and buying a property during the start of the growth ca n lead to great rewards, if house prices go on increasing. But it is simple said than done, the economy is on a feeble improvement, increased taxes are likely and the public is expected to cut back their expenditure as people will wish to cut the size of their liability load. Interest rates will play a important role, there are many factors that will keep interest rates low; the UK budget deficit is increasing to 12% of GDP, this shows a deprived financial position of the government. To get better their position the government will compel lofty taxes and lower expenditures. But if taxes rise, this depreciation fiscal policy could slow down improvement so interest rates are likely to stay low. Given the overall fragile revival the Central Bank is to be expected to keep interest rates low. Given the increase of VAT back up to 17.5%, expanding oil prices and growing house prices the government may raise the traditionally low interest rates to stop any future inflationary anxiety, but i n my judgment interest rates if they will raise in the near future are not likely to increase before the end of 2010. Source: http://www.economicshelp.org/ onomics/uk-economy-2010/ http://www.mortgageguidk.co.uk/blog/interestinterest-rate-predions/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cgget.asp?id=19 Conclusion In general it seems that the UKs housing market has seen the poorer, and is expected to enjoy its boom days in the near future. But it is hard to evaluate the healing as it will depend upon the future interest rate. The size of the interest rate will have its according impact, if we experience a reasonable increase in the interest rate than we can anticipate a good constant recovery while mortgage repayments will not shoot up and people will have time to adjust to the increase, expecting that peoples earnings rise along with the interest rate. A big raise in the interest rate might slow down the Housing market growth, since there will be a rapid variation in the mortgage repayments, this may further discourage the housing market transferring the economy into a double-dip recession. The performance of the economy is a key role in the next few years, and this is extremely dependent upon government policies. To risen the overall economic growth, government may try an augmentation strate gy, but this again will be very arguable as the government is already in a poor financial picture. So the government wishes to play around with its tools it has in hand to twist the economy back into a secure position, which will then along with it lead to a health UK Housing market.